dim sum at Yang's- delish!

Was treated to dim sum at Yang's today- have to say I was very impressed. Everything was delicious.

We tried the nor mai gai, 2 versions of turnip cake (one crispy and one steamed, to compare), vegetable filled bean curd rolls, chicken ginger steamed buns, a green tea lotus bean paste steamed sweet, and an egg custard sesame ball. 7 dishes (1 L, 5 M and 1 S, IIRC ) and tea came to just under $33. The quality was excellent, and the servers were very professional and friendly.

Have to say, this is now my favourite dim sum resto in the GTA (although I haven't visited Grand yet). Still like Empire Court and Casa Imperial, but for the whole package, including service and ambiance, Yang's is now my first pick.

Yes, we all know that to be a very true statement. For me, it would be the reverse (and everyone knows that to be a very true statement as well). I would have to say that Yang's is one of the few places I take many of the DC's to since it is in the neighbourhood.

I am happy for Grand to have such a die-hard fan. But pretty much Grand's prime time is long gone and it is now just a hotel restaurant serving good to average dim sum and cantonese cuisine as seen by many people, with such quality that can be found in many restaurant in RH.

My friend told me he went to Grand recently and tried to order a stir fried noodle or rice dish during dim sum hours. They didn't offer any!

I found that quite odd as pretty much every dim sum joint will have a place card menu on the table offering at least several fried rice/noodle dishes.

My friend wasn't pleased, he also said his bbq pork bun felt microwaved. He is HK born btw, if that matters, and says he much prefers Yang's.

Don't shoot me, I'm just passing on the message. I would still like to try Grand for myself. It's just that it's hard to justify the drive when dim sum of high quality can be found near me in Markham/RH.

Interesting, because I know for a fact that they steam all their buns as I have gotten a few kitchen tours during the dim sum hour. Not at all going to shot you aser :). To each their own, am I right? I just know that they don't use the microwave, so I just wanted to clarify that.

It's one helluva drive north for me to get to Yang's, which seems to be somewhere on the edge of the Canadian Shield, but everything I've tried on the dim sum lunch menu - and I think I've been through most of it - has been first rate. I particularly liked the two versions of the turnip cake. Add to that the clean, modern lines of the pleasant room and good, knowledgable service, and you've got a winner in the dim sum sweepstakes. Reasonable prices as well, given the quality of the goodies - two can nosh extremely well for $35 or so, tax and tip included. For comparison's sake, I also tried another fancy dim sum joint - called, I think, Emperor, or some such, in a plaza on Bayview Ave. somewhat south of Yang's, which also got good mentions on another dim sum thread - and found Yang's substantially superior. Emperor hits a double or triple, Yang's hits a home run. It's the best tip I've picked up on Chowhound so far this year.

I like go there for lunch but not dinner. Their dim sum is among the best in town.Last time I went with my friend for dinner, we order a chicken dish which is ice cold. Most asian resto serve this dish in room tempeture. The most impressed dish is the seafood fried rice, a lot of different kind of seafood but the taste of uni is a bit off. $38? a fried rice? Should be a lot better, right?

This is one of the thing I really love about Chowhound! The sometimes total diversification of opinion and taste from fellow foodies! In my case, comparing with some of their competitors, I find Yang's Dim Sum pretty good but their dinner is better! I've eaten dinner there about half a dozen times. Never had a disappointing episode! Interesting?!

Yang's was very good, thanks for the recommendation! Their turnip cake was indeed tasty as well as their beef short ribs, shrimp and foie gras dumpling (not as good as LHT foie gras dumpling). We ordered a lot of food and I'll defnitely be back.

One thing I've noticed is the size of har-gow. Is it me or are they becoming larger and larger these days? Yangs version was good but not excellent. I found it a bit "doughy" for my tastes but they did load it with 2/3 shrimps!

Yes, I don't really know what's wrong with these places' Har Gow in Toronto area, you can find big Har Gow at Yangs, Regal Palace, Casa Imperial, Empire Court, I guess it means they more or less provides the same level of dim sum ...

I think the skill level of the chef also has something to do with it! It is obviously more challenging and require more skill to make good bite size Har-gow using skin/wrap that is thin, malleable and delicate enough as to not break when formed, open up when steamed and later on, fall apart when picked up by chopsticks. Increasing the size of the morsels would mean one can be less careful and refine by using thicker wrappers and hence resulting in a more 'durable' product!. In Hong Kong, size of Har-gow from good dim sum establishments is always bite size. For bonus, the chef would add one more 'centre' one to make it 5 morsels in one steamer rather than staying with 4 but increasing the size to that of a ping-pong ball! That way, the dim sum chef can show off his true skill!

Yes, definitely the chef is not as skillful and taking short cut. Most of the har gow in Toronto area are not durable even at top places here, it is just not elegant and lack of refinement. A good refined har gow should have at least 10 to 12 folds nice and clear on the skin/wrap !

We had the Dim Sum at Yangs a few weeks back, as we were going to a Nursery on North Bayview.This was before I read all of the glowing reviews.It was excellent with the exception of the Har-gow, as you stated Charles.It was too big, and fell apart when picked up although it was not overcooked, or mushy..The other exception was the Bean Curd rolls, which I found bland, and this is always my favorite.DH thought that everything was delish, We have just returned from a business trip, and taking your word for it will go for dinner with friends this weekend.I no longer recommend Elegantview for Dim Sum.This was our go to place, but the last couple of times, it was more than disappointing.They must have new people in the kitchen, so I sadly take back my many recommendations.

The skin on the har gow is delicate, you have to be good w/ the chopsticks to extract it w/o breaking. Like all dumplings in dim sum, it sticks to the parchment, so you have to remove it very slowly to ensure non-breakage. The common mistake I see everybody do is to try to yank it out quick in one motion. Guaranteed breakage.....

It's a delicate balance, do you want it more durable for easier pickup, but sacrificing texture? Or do you want it thin for good texture, at the risk of breakage?

Right, agree completely. They are two different classes. Making a Har Gow from beginning to end is not a easy process, not easy to make it right ! And I think LWH and Yang's Har Gow are the better ones in Toronto, with LWH having a more reasonable size.